 Poster: A snowHead
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6.20pm is 7.20pm French time, plus 1.5hour flight is 9pm before you get off the plane, get luggage, clear customs, get car hire sorted..........................
more like midnight in Val
I ve done it too for weekends, but also flown into Turin via STN as that's more local this end for me........extra cost of Frejus tunnel but not much difference in duration of drive
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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that sounds like a plan Bar Shaker.....................but sadly only for the minted!!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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LGW to GVA is rarely more than an hour.
It's for a weekend, so hand luggage only. Register for Europcar speedy check-in. There are loads of things that all incrementally chip away at the time.
@stefoy4me, I looked at Turin as an option but looks to be well over 3hrs driving and hassle getting a car with winter tyres. How do you find it?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Only really works if you have kit (boots/helmet/clothes) at the other end.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
LGW to GVA is rarely more than an hour.
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in the air.
+ taxi time.
EJ schedule 1hr40 for the flight and it isn't in that often early. So an 18:20 gets you in at 21:00 local... definitely 23:00 before resort.
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@bar shaker, @under a new name, having said all that, I'd happily spend the extra time in transfers to ski the EK instead of rock hopping in Morzine or staying in the brutalist dystopian nightmare of Avoriaz. And that's before you try to navigate your way around the hopelessly bottlenecked PdS...
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@Dr John, when did you last ski the PdS? I can guarantee you I can avoid almost if not all "bottlenecks"...
Nothing wrong with Avoriaz. (Except finding weekend accommodation). Ski weekends are all about the ski not admiration of some architect's finest cathedral-like works.
Your accom is where you sleep, perhaps eat. Requires precious little else.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The Evasion Mont Blanc is fantastic for a weekend. We did it last year staying in Megève. Nightlife is not great, but the skiing was pretty good and empty pistes! Food was fantastic though pricey. best bit we managed 3 full days of skiing - in on a Thursday evening and out late Sunday - its 1 hour 15 mins from geneva
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@under a new name, I have no doubt you can avoid all the bottlenecks, but your average holiday skier doesn't your in-depth knowledge so will inevitably run straight into them. Perhaps you could publish some handy hints.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@FrediKanoute, I do EMB for weekends a lot, Friday 17.30 flight gets me there for last beers, ski sat/sun & Monday till 13.00, then 17.00 flight back.
1 day off work & 2.5 days of skiing
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Now thinking PdS might be the choice with the late arrival. Slightly put off by the thought of morning queues, etc from Morzine. If we stayed somewhere slightly in the Montriond direction, would access via Ardent be a convenient back door into the area whilst still allowing us to access the nightlife of Morzine?
Avoriaz could be an option but how is the nightlife there these days?
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| Dr John wrote: |
| @bar shaker, @under a new name, having said all that, I'd happily spend the extra time in transfers to ski the EK instead of rock hopping in Morzine or staying in the brutalist dystopian nightmare of Avoriaz. And that's before you try to navigate your way around the hopelessly bottlenecked PdS... |
I assume you're referring to the architecture in Avoriaz? Are Tignes/Val d'Isere much of an improvement aesthetically?
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You know it makes sense.
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@froomie, Tignes no, exactly the same but they are at least trying to improve things. Val d'Isere is very easy on the eye.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@ChrisP3, Apologies if this has been covered, but have you looked at La Clusaz? It's possibly the closest resort to Geneva, a good weekend amount of pistes and more alpine charm than you can wave a wedge of reblochon at.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| under a new name wrote: |
| Nothing wrong with Avoriaz. (Except finding weekend accommodation) |
Not always easy but Club Med do short durations and are quite flexible outside major school holidays. Did a 4 nighter in Avoriaz in March and was pretty good all around.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ChrisP3 - A weekend at the end of Jan, I can't see why there would be any morning lift queues out of Morzine. I'd stay in central Morzine and go up Pleney and ski Morzine/Les Gets at least one of the days if not both. If you do want to go up to Avoriaz and beyond, there won't be any queues on the Super Morzine or you could get the bus to Prodains. If you hire a car, then it's easier to just Drive to Prodains and the parking is free.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
Prodains and the parking is free
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Not any more it isn't.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@bar shaker, sorry, but I just don't see how you can land at 20:30, get out to the hire car area, queue for the hire car, wait/get on bus to collect the car, and drive to Val, all within 2 hours? Even if everything lines up perfectly that will take 3.5 to 4 hours.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sorry, parking was still free last ski season, didn't realise it had changed recently.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@doddsie, was it? Maybe my mistake then - perhaps they changed it back. I recall controversy a couple of years ago when they started to charge, in part triggered by the new gondola.
Maybe it's only for overnights.
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@doddsie, you not thinking about Ardent? Which was free last year.
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I'd aim for the Grand Massif. Easier drive late a night on possibly icy/snowy roads than PdS and many of the others. Also a good destination for mixed ability groups. The new Club Med will be open in Samoans by then. If the snow is pants (hope not by late Jan) you can always get to Flaine. We often take long weekend bookings in Jan, as it's not as popular as Feb, so think you should be OK.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Cheesie168, by Grand Massif you mean Morillon or Samöens right? Not Flaine and probably not Les Carroz, both of which involve equally long and windy roads as Les Gets and Morzine.
It's really not much of a difference.
But frankly, if you aren't up to driving at night on possibly icy snowy roads, you shouldn't be considering driving at night on, etc.
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bar shaker - I m going back a number of years since I last done it, but I think the quickest was around 2hrs 50min.
It was in the days of Ryanair flights for £0.01 so a no brainer
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'll add my "vote" for Morzine, so long as you go between mid Jan and early March to be sure of snow.
It's near to Geneva, Skidy Gonzales do rapid and cheap shared transfers - never have to wait and they don't come too early on the return leg.
We always do a sat am flight and on the slopes by 1pm, skiing the Morzine/les gets side. Then a full day on the les gets side on Sunday. Monday get the bus to prodains and do the Avoriaz side before doing whatever we fancy on the Monday, before a 4pm transfer for the 9/10pm train.
All this nonsense spouted about bottlenecks etc would be ignored if you're sensible enough to plan your short break to miss holiday season.
I like variety, so I'm probably doing La Clusaz next. But just my tuppence and I'm sure you can do similar in any other resort, but that's my itiniary. Where it really works is for numbers under 4 as the shared transfers are so cheap.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| FrediKanoute wrote: |
| The Evasion Mont Blanc is fantastic for a weekend. We did it last year staying in Megève. Nightlife is not great, but the skiing was pretty good and empty pistes! Food was fantastic though pricey. best bit we managed 3 full days of skiing - in on a Thursday evening and out late Sunday - its 1 hour 15 mins from geneva |
I was going to mention Megeve. I've done a number of weekend trips there, but a few years back now. Pretty easy drive from Geneva, pricey hotels though, some fairly decent skiing if I remember. Cote 2000 used to have a Womens FIS GS course.
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Looks like we're going for Morzine.
Any tips for cheap accommodation other than Airbnb?
I see that Easyjet have got into the transfer game but it doesn't look like their seats are on sale yet. Has anyone used this service? It looks like they've offered numerous transfers every day in the past and at a very reasonable price. Thinking it could save the hassle of car hire and me having to wait around for 5 hours for the majority of the group to arrive.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@ChrisP3, it's Easy* co-branded otherwise nothing to do with the airline.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@ChrisP3, Easybus (or whatever) takes a bit of a hammering on resort Facebook groups for being unreliable. I think it's run by Cham Express who also come in for a lot of complaints. Most of the smaller transfer companies who work with the 8 passenger mini buses will do shared transfers, which cost a bit more but are reliable, and more flexible too if needed because of late flights or similar.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@ChrisP3, EasyBus isn't part of the chain, they just pimp out the name to local operators. From what I understand they are more often than not crap and have been known to leave people in resorts
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Parking is free at Prodains, if you buy a lift ticket, which you will need to do anyway if you are there for the weekend. Just take the parking ticket with you to the ticket desk and they'll swap it for a valid one. It's not something they advertise, so you have to be in the know.
Easybus is good if you have a backup plan, if they don't turn up. It's cheap and quick, the drivers certainly don't keep to the speed limits.
However, sometimes they don't show up and when that happens there is no one to call for information and they don't give you any compensation for your costs if you have to pay to get to the airport or if you miss your flight.
I only let friends use them to save me the drive, knowing that if they don't show up they can just give me a call and I'll take them instead. Not ideal for people wanting a stress free weekend.
Personally I'd always hire a car and drive, it's quicker, no more expensive if there's a few of you and it gives you the option to drive to Prodains.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@doddsie, they surely don't advertise that. Cheers.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@ChrisP3, use Skiidy Gonzales - used them 4 times and no issues ever - I was late once by an hour and they put us on the next transfer. Easybus takes a hammering. Apparently franchised and they sub out the work and then only refund you the ticket price if the transfer falls through.
For hotels, we went on the tourist office last time and looked for hotels with a spa/pool so that we could shower on the last day. Or use googlemaps and email directly.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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"Hotels with a spa"
Cunning!
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@under a new name, assume I'm not missing a P take, but yes  we now do that for all short breaks. Check out on the last day at 9am, drop bags at reception, return at 3pm to shower etc in the spa facilities and then transfer around 4.30-5.30 back to Geneva for a 9/10 pm flight. Bosh.
A lot of quite average/cheap hotels will have such facilities - especially Austria where sauna/steam room/jacuzzi are prevalent. But also many family run affairs in France.
e.g. Les Bruyeres Chalet hôtel Morzine - we stayed over NY (sadly sans neige) and it was €135 p/night for a twin room. Basic rooms of course and not an amazing breakfast, but who cares? Pool and spa. Central location. Bosh.
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The Sports centre in Megeve has showers and is fairly close to the bus station.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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If there's ample snow Les Houches is a fun spot for a weekend and only 35 mins or so from Geneva. Also quite central for an easy drive over to Megeve/St Gervais to the west or any of the Chamonix areas to the east of which Flegere and Le Tour offer plenty for a mixed ability group.
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@Badbobby, no truly, that's smart. Like it.
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FAQ
